5e Inventory sheet

So it looks like this:

and you download it here
and you do this: look up the weight of the clothes you’re wearing and your armor and list that in both pounds and stone.

Then for things that generally look like they would be in a backpack or pouch (like your tinderbox) just list one per line and don’t fret their weights. You have ten slots for these small backpackable items; remove a line of rations and you have ten more slots (use the back), remove both lines of rations and you instead have twenty more slots (use the back). Or conversely put in extra rations and every ration take up two item-slots.

And for things that look like they are big and you’d strap them to the bag, like your rope, your bedroll etc, you get five, don’t fret their weights either. A bundle of ten torches count as one of those things.

For things that you carry in your belt or on your back or in your hands like bows, swords and staffs, there’s also one line per item for those too.

So for all of those things don’t bother looking up weights and micromanage.

What you do micromanage is the amount of coins you have! Each pouch can have 250 coins (5e coins are a fifth of the size of what B/X coins were). One gems weigh the same as one coin. (The pouches in this system are a tiny bit smaller than 5e’s normal 300 coin purses so you can wear them as medium things.)

Why does stone matter?

You can carry your own strength score in stone. If you have 13 str you can carry 13 stone worth of stuff. (After 4 (one third strength) you get encumbered and after 8 (two thirds strength) you get heavily encumbered.) That’s why I use 15 lb per stone instead of the historical 14lb.

Why do you micromanage the heaviest thing (your own weight and your armor’s weight) and the lightest thing (a single coin) but not inbetween?

These are the least likely to change and thus least likely to have to be recalculated. You can drop your backpack faster than you can doff your armor. These weights especially matter if you are unconscious and are being chased by stirges and your pal has to drag your body through the dungeon. Does she have to ditch your backpack, her own, or both?

Why micromanage the lightest thing (coins and gems)?

When you are trying to extract gold from beneath the earth, it matters whether you are carrying 50000 gp or 500 gp or 5 gp. And by assigning a consistent weight to them (one coin each) you can have a single tally, even if it’s a little annoying that you split it up by type (17 copper pieces isn’t worth as much as 17 gems so you want to list them separately but then add them).

Why not micromanage weights in between?

These change often as you use arrows, lantern oil, eat rations and they all have sliiiightly different weights. 1, 4, 7 etc. These item slots make it easier to remember / guess how much you can carry over all. We want to micromanage how many torches, arrows, oil flasks you have left without having to re-add-up weights all the time. We also want to manage where things are – if they’re in your pack you lose it when you drop your pack, etc. And that’s enough.

Dividing by 15 sucks

Yeah, it does. But you only need to do it for your body weight and for your clothes&armor. A math trick: double it, remove the last digit, divide by three. I.e. 750 lb → 1500 → 150 → 50 stone. Or, remove the last digit, double it, divide by three. I.e. 750 lb → 75 → 150 → 50 stone. Or use a calculator.

What if you have extra sacks, barrels, chests etc?

Gee, how many arms does your character have? For a sack: grab a piece of scrap paper, a post-it or w/e, and fill it up with 30 lb worth of stuff. That scrap paper is now two stone.

What if you have extra pouches?

Get some ruled paper. Two stone for every six pouches. (Update Used to be for every five pouches but I made smaller pouches.)

Why did you resist going to stone encumbrance so long and now not?

I still kiiinda resist it. When 5e came out I thought: OK. So you have a number (15×strength) and that’s how many lb you can carry. Lb (pounds) represent encumbriness, weight, volume or both, it’s abstract. And you just tally it up, it’s just like hit points, what could be easier, you can carry 195 lb worth of stuff and you subtract from it for everything you carry. Easy peasy. Buuut… sometimes you drop your backpack and what was in your backpack and what sometimes you carry your buddy and do you really want to drag their greatclub with you and sometimes you find a big treasure trove and how many coins can you get in there and etc etc. With hitpoints, you never need to go back and be like “OK, so we have these 30 psychic damage, and these 13 burning damage” etc. With encumbrance you need to recalculate all the time. It needs to be either visual, or the numbers significantly scaled down.

Why don’t you just go stone enc fully like Delta and ACKS? Save yourself all this inflexible layout work.

Because I didn’t want to make custom equipment lists. And also that it’s a litle annoying that so many things are 1/3 stone, the whole asterisk system that Delta has going on. Were I making my own game from scratch that might be an option I’d consider. (Update) This second version comes a little bit closer to their way of doing things.

Why don’t you abstract your gear like the “Adventuring Gear” in Dungeon World?

Nevvaaaar!!!! B/c I like the idea of “this is what I actually have with me here. What can I do with it?”

So you like the ready made packs of 5e. Why don’t they work better with this?

(Update) This new version works well with them, as long as you have a backpack. If you are a Diplomat and lug around a 325 lb chest wherever you go you’re on your own. Or get sapient pearwood.

I made them! A while ago. The first was my attempt at using a grid as a visual calculating aid where you’d draw freeform lines and scribbles etc, with your strength score as a visual limit and you could also draw lines for the various encumbrance levels. I guess you need to think exactly like me in order to get any use out of that, because it never was a hit. The second I went as simple as I could. A simple tally of items that you’d have to sum by hand. It has the important thing: your own weight separated from the weight of your stuff. But, it takes time to use and I’ve found that a lot of people don’t get the simpler sheets. They want the thousands of little boxes…?! Worse is better I guess…

I did see that, and it definitely inspired this new version. I started printing out some copies of that but I realized that it didn’t really solve the two main problems: 1. how much can you carry, and 2. how easily can you be carried. I found myself missing my old “strength score” line and so I went to stone. Reluctantly. And reread the relevant parts of Delta and ACKS and Dungeon World and Torchbearer and Veins and ended up here. To hew closely to the 5e lb-equipment lists but be a little easier to actually remember to use at the table. Will playtest soon.